Pride Life
A pride of lions is a family structure. It consists typically
of 4-20 females with their cubs, and one or two adult males. It
is beleived by some that a male cannot hold a pride for longer
than eighteen months, but evidence dictates that males usually
stay in control much longer than that. All of the females in a
pride will be related to one another, and the young cubs are
usually of the pride males.
A male who wishes to take over a pride will challenge the
male in control. One form this sometimes takes is a 'stare-down',
where two males will sit a few feet apart, face-to-face, and
stare at each other. The first one to break his stare is the
'loser'. This can go on for many hours. Eventually, most pride
control power struggles end in some form of physical
confrontation. Fights to the death occur occasionally, and many a
male in his prime has fallen acquiring or defending a pride.
Surviving losers often become nomads, and have to fend for
themselves. They tend to lose weight, and scavenge more than they
hunt as they grow older.
In a pride, the females do most of the hunting. It is often
observed that the male will eat first, and then the females. This
way, the males get big and strong. They also get somewhat clumsy,
and this, combined with a big mane, makes them less-adept
hunters. Although the pride male can, by virtue of his size,
easily dispatch a prey animal the females are struggling with, he
relies on the females for a lot of his food. In return for 'the
lion's share', the male is responsible for marking a pride's
territory. The male also defends his territory, and of course,
provides the pride's 'stud service'. It is unusual for a male to
have control of a pride, if he is beyond the age of ten years.